While I’ve been out and about walking the neighbourhood, I’ve observed a couple of things I think are interesting. They aren’t necessarily significant but I thought I would share them.
First of all, there are some people who are absolutely dedicated to having a green lawn, even though we’ve had no significant rainfall for I’m not sure how long - I believe it’s more than a month. It’s bone dry where I live. The last rain we had was a brief – and I mean brief – downpour a couple of weeks ago, and that was the first rain in weeks. Yet there are some lovely green lawns out there.
What is so important about a green lawn that people waste water by watering and watering and watering? They have underground sprinklers that run every day or every second day. Not only is this not good for the grass, but because the sprinklers are automatic, they are running even on the few occasions it is raining. This has been a pet peeve for me for a long time. Even in wetter years, those sprinklers will be running rain or shine, whether the grass needs watering or not.
C’mon, folks! Let’s not waste water on the grass – it’ll come back next year. Or if you must water, treat your lawn to a good dowsing once a week and then let your grass get stronger and send its roots deeper so it can survive better when it’s dry.
Secondly, I have yet to have a young person look at me or greet me in the morning. I regularly pass kids – high school age, I’d guess – heading off to work, headphones on, feet dragging. They do not look at me, they do not smile, they do not acknowledge that another living being is passing them on the sidewalk.
I’ve occasionally had an adult act the same way, but for the most part, others will say “good morning” or “another hot day” or something appropriate to the morning.
Is it that the kids are plugged into their own little world and don’t notice anything around them? Have they been so indoctrinated to not speak to strangers that they never grow out of it? Do they not care to speak to anyone over 30? Are they so tired it’s all they can do to move one foot in front of the other? It’s a mystery to me.
